By The Twin Moons
by lucielchoi
Summary: No better way to get to know someone than to fight a dragon with them in the middle of nowhere. At 1 AM. or, alternatively: dragonborn!Eren meets battlemage!Levi on the road during a dragon attack, and decides to travel with him. (skyrim AU) (rating may change)
1. Meeting Under the Moons

There was nothing like the sound of a dragon in the distance to wake you up after a long day's travel.

Eren jerked his head up, startling out of his almost sleep (which would have been terrible, considering he was standing in the middle of a road), and let out a long sigh. He pulled out his sword, preparing for when the dragon inevitably saw him and attacked him. That was kind of what dragons did.

But it didn't. He saw the dragon land with a mighty roar, but it didn't land near _him_. No, it landed a good distance from him. He began to run toward it, seeing sparks flying, clearly visible in the dark. There must be a mage nearby. A mage definitely wouldn't be able to take on a dragon alone. Dragons were tough, and mages... weren't.

As the dragon came into view (a frost dragon, he noted), he saw a Breton fighting the dragon, dodging it's bites and attacking it with lightning magic. Lightening magic probably wasn't the best thing to use against a frost Breton was wearing heavy armor and had a warhammer at his back. Eren idly wondered why he wasn't using that instead of magic.

Eren rushed onto the scene, taking into account the dragon's wounds and the Breton's wounds, and readied his sword.

 _"Yol... toor... shul!"_ Eren shouted, feeling fire shoot out of his mouth at the words. The fire illuminated the dark around him. The frost dragon roared in pain and made to fly into the air, but Eren quickly jumped onto it's neck and drove his sword into the beast's head, effectively killing the dragon.

He jumped off the dead dragon's body, noting how quickly this one went down compared to the other ones. The battlemage must have weakened it quite a bit. He searched around for the Breton, smiling when he saw that the man was currently healing himself. He watched as the dragon's skin began to flake off, burning and rising up as the soul flew toward his body. He felt a rush of power as he absorbed the dragon soul, closing his eyes for a moment to relish in the feeling.

"You..." Eren turned swiftly at the sound of the Breton's surprised voice. The man was short, shorter than most Bretons. He had a surprised look on his face, his gray eyes widening. His hair was as black as the night sky above them.

"You're the Dragonborn," the man stated. Eren cocked his head. This man would be very attractive, if now for the scowl settling on his features.

"Ah, yes," Eren grinned and rubbed the back of his head shyly, "I am."

The Dragonborn was a rare person who was born with the soul of a dragon, but the body of a mortal. Eren had found out that he was the Dragonborn (or "Dovahkiin") when he killed his first dragon, and promptly absorbed the dragon's soul. The dragon souls gave him the ability to use the Thu'um, shouts that gave him various abilities, such as the fire breath he used before.

The Breton gave him a once over, and Eren could feel himself getting embarrassed over the attention. The moment was over quickly, however, as the man just shrugged and made his way down the road. Eren followed him.

"So, where are you headed?" Eren asked, feeling a strange urge not to leave this man.

The Breton looked up at Eren with a sour face, "What's it to you?"

"Damn, just curious. Not everyday you meet someone else on the road at this hour, let alone fighting a dragon," Eren said, suppressing his anger at the man's blunt rudeness.

The Breton ignored Eren.

Eren sighed in frustration, but continued walking alongside the short, angry fellow. Traveling together was safer than traveling alone, even if you were the Dragonborn. Plus, this road was the one leading to Falkreath, which was where Eren was going. Sure, he was going there on a thieving job, but hey, he had to make money somehow. And thieving was quick and easy, and paid even more than mercenary work.

A half hour passed, and the man still hadn't said anything.

"So," Eren said, gazing down at the man, "What's your name?"

In response, the short Breton just glared at Eren.

Eren sighed again and looked up at the twin moons. They were as beautiful as ever, large and bright in the night sky. It was perfectly clear tonight, stars lighting up the sky and an aurora clearly visible, although they were rare in this area. Eren had always loved the night sky. It was more visible here, in Skyrim, than it was back in his homeland. The skies were clearer.

"Levi," The man's voice startled Eren, making him jump a little.

"What?" Eren asked, hand over his heart, as if that would calm it down.

"My name," The short man turned and glared at Eren, "It's Levi."

Eren felt an odd little surge of joy well up in him, and smiled happily. _Levi._ The name suited him perfectly.

"My name's Eren," Eren said, smiling. The Breton, Levi, ignored him, as Eren expected by now.

The next hour passed pleasantly, walking in silence, except for the occasional comment from Eren, which went ignored and unacknowledged. The sun was beginning to rise, and Eren could feel his stomach rumbling. He got a cheese slice out from his bag and cut it in half with a knife he had been carrying, offering half to Levi.

Levi stared at the cheese for a moment, "Was that knife clean?" he asked.

"Yep," Eren said, popping the _p_ , "I only use it for food, if that's what you're asking. I haven't killed anyone with it."

Levi warily took the piece of cheese. Eren could understand his wariness. It could easily be poisoned or something like that, Eren supposed.

Eren began to munch on his cheese, sighing happily at the full feeling it gave him. He also had some bread on him, but that was all the food he had and he still had about an hour before he got to Falkreath. He would save the bread for later.

Ten minutes later, Eren's feet began to hurt. He hadn't taken a break since, what, noon? It was in the early hours of the morning now. Eren knew he needed to take a break after walking for so long, but he also knew that Levi would most likely keep walking. He didn't know why, but the thought made him sad.

However, Eren was pretty sure if he didn't take a break his feet would start bleeding, so he sat down on a nearby rock. As Eren expected, Levi kept on walking. Eren sighed, missing the silent companionship already as he watched Levi's figure get even smaller than before.

He sat there for an hour or so, watching the colors in the sky change and massaging his aching feet, feeling a sort of anger arise in his chest as Levi. He had saved the man's live and given him food, and he just leaves him as soon as he can. Sure, Eren's met plenty of people on the road, but Levi...

Well, Eren wasn't quite sure. Deciding he'd been sitting around long enough, Eren got up, stretched, and continued on his way to Falkreath.

A/N: Posting this on AO3 too! Don't get offended but I debated posting it here at all tbh my thoughts were: "Do people still use or has everyone switched to AO3... fuck it lmao"


	2. I Said Yep, What a Concept

Levi was waiting for him.

Eren gaped at the man, who was sitting on a rock not too far from where Eren had stopped. Out of sight from where Eren was sitting, but not too far away from where Eren stopped, either.

"Took you long enough, shitty brat," Levi mumbled, getting up and dusting off his clothes.

"You..." Eren shook his head in disbelief, "You waited for me?"

"Well," Levi looked even angrier, if possible, "I guess I owe it to you to walk with you, after all you've done."

Eren couldn't help the grin that spread across his face, or the giddy feeling that erupted in his chest. Levi had waited for him! What were the odds of that?

"But, you know," Levi continued, "I could have killed that dragon on my own. I may be a mage, but I'm strong."

Eren was shocked that Levi was initiating conversation. And, of course he could tell that Levi was strong. He was wearing heavy armor, Eren noted, along with a warhammer at his back, in case his magic wasn't strong enough.

"I can tell," Eren said, wanting to keep the conversation moving, "I just can't pass up an opportunity for a dragon soul. Plus, you know, it was a frost dragon, and lightening magic won't work well on it, fire magic is much more effective-"

Eren stopped his rambling, feeling a blush form across his cheeks. He looked away from Levi and at the scenery, hiding his blush. They were in one of the less cold regions of Skyrim, being in the south. The further north you went, the colder it got. It was actually a pleasant day today.

"How do you know if it's a frost dragon?" Levi asked, startling Eren. Levi noticed his surprise and asked grumpily, "Well? Are you gonna tell me or what, shitty brat?"

Eren stifled his anger at the rude comment, "Well, they're bigger than most dragons, and they have white scales. They also have a more noticeable row of spines on their back than most other dragons. Plus, they only use ice breath."

"Hm," Levi hummed, looking away, not replying. Eren was starting to get very frustrated with this man. Why wait for Eren if he's just going to ignore him?

Eren knew that getting into a fight with this man wouldn't help things. If anything, it would make this man even less talkative than he already was.

They soon reached Falkreath, where Levi stopped and turned to Eren, causing the taller man to nearly bump into him.

"You were heading here, right?" Levi asked. Eren nodded. "Well, I'm off to Riften, so-"

"Wait!" Eren stopped him before he could start walking, much to the raven's annoyance, "I'm headed to Riften after this, I just need to take care of something real quick here. So, um, we could walk to Riften together, maybe?"

Levi stared into Eren's eyes for a long time, making the taller man a bit uncomfortable. Eren just needed to steal 500 gold's worth in goods from here, and then he needed to head back to Riften to report to the Thieves Guild. Plus, Eren reasoned, there was that old woman in the Riften orphanage that the one kid had wanted him to kill, and he did need extra money. Murder was murder, but...

"Falkreath is kind of a shit place to stay," Levi said, and it was true. The town didn't have any walls to protect it from dragons, and there wasn't much to the town. There were also rumors that the assassins guild, the Dark Brotherhood, resided here.

"Levi," Eren reasoned, "How long has it been since you last slept? I know you didn't sleep last night, since we were traveling together."

Levi looked away and scowled, which was answer enough.

"So! Why don't we both stay here for the night, and we'll go to Riften together?"

Levi studied Eren's expression, "And why should I travel with you? Why should I wait here, instead of getting closer to where I need to be?"

Eren didn't have an answer to that. Why, indeed? They had known each other for what, a few hours? Maybe half a day? They were only together because of Eren's insistence, and Eren didn't even know why he found the raven so alluring. Hell, he didn't know anything about the short man in front of him! And yet...

"Two people is safer than one?" Eren said shyly, grinning, although he could feel his lips wobble. Levi stayed silent, staring Eren down yet again. Eren knew he was going to end up traveling alone again soon (he also knew it was probably better that way, considering why he was here). Levi wasn't the type of man to let someone like Eren hold him down.

"Ok," Levi said, making Eren do a double take.

"Ok?" Eren asked, bewildered, "You'll do it?"

"I said I would, didn't I?" Levi said angrily, crossing his arms. Eren smiled, and Levi huffed, "Now hurry up and do whatever you need to do before I change my mind. I need to go take a shit."

Eren raised an eyebrow, but said nothing as the small man walked away. Eren couldn't believe Levi had actually agreed to stay!

Eren made quick work of his stealing job, sneaking into the Jarl's house and taking some valuable clothes, and then sneaking into some townsfolk's homes, and taking their most valuable items. He made sure no guards had followed him, easily slipping into the shadows. One he had double checked to ensure that he had enough to keep Jean happy back at the guild, he slipped the items into his bag and headed off to find Levi.

The town was small enough, it was easy to find him. He was buying potions, both for his magicka and his health. Eren followed his lead, also buying a few potions, while making sure he had enough money to rent a room for the night.

It was getting dark, so Levi and Eren headed off to find the inn. As they entered the inn, a strong smell of mead hit Eren's nose. He wasn't really fond of the stuff, although mead was something all holds of Skyrim had in common. There were a few drunk men hanging around, but Eren would be fine as long as he didn't provoke them.

"Need a room?" the innkeeper asked in a bored voice. She glanced over Eren and Levi, seemingly disinterested in everything around her.

"Yes, please," Eren made to pay, but Levi stopped him, putting 10 gold pieces on the counter. Eren raised an eyebrow, but said nothing.

"Your room is over there," She said, pointing lazily at a door across the inn. Levi and Eren followed her gesture and went immediately into the room.

"A double bed?" Eren asked. Was he going to sleep in the same bed as Levi? Eren looked at him questioningly.

"If you don't like it, get another room," Levi said simply, "I'd rather not sleep with some dirty brat anyways."

"Hey!" Eren crossed his arms angrily, "You haven't bathed recently either."

"Then why don't we both go out for a dip in that pond out there?" Levi suggested.

"Fuck," Eren shook his head, "Do you know how cold that's gonna be?"

The sun was starting to set, Eren having spent the rest of the day they hadn't spent traveling stealing. While it wasn't as cold as it could be (and Skyrim was a fucking cold country), that water would be freezing.

"I'd rather freeze than sleep in the same bed as someone who smells like shit," Levi countered. Levi was already getting up, "Look, I said I would go too. We'll both freeze our balls off."

"Or, you know, I could just go get my own room," Eren said, raising his eyebrows, "It's only 10 gold."

"Whatever," Levi sighed, "But you know I don't want to travel with someone who smells like they just dove into a pile of shit. When was the last time you bathed?"

The last time Eren took a bath was when he left Markarth for Falkreath. He was running two jobs at once, to get as much gold as possible in as little time as possible. He just needed to change some numbers on a business ledger in Markarth, but he ended up witnessing a murder and staying for longer than he had planned, stopping his investigation early when the city guards got mad at him. He didn't need any jail time at the moment. Markarth was the _worst_. So, while he was there, he had bathed. Eren wasn't sure how long it had been, though.

"Fine, ok, I'll fucking take a bath in the freezing water," Eren conceded, gesturing at Levi, "But you have to come too."

"I said I would," Levi said, raising an eyebrow at him in annoyance.

Eren and Levi headed out. The sun was setting, and as Eren expected, it was starting to get cold. As they got to the pond, Eren immediately regretted his decision to do this. That water looked freezing as _hell_.

Levi began to strip to his smallclothes, and Eren reluctantly joined. Eren couldn't stop how his eyes lingered a bit too long on Levi's muscular form, but it was dark, so Levi probably didn't notice.

Eren stepped into the water only after Levi did the same, and _shit_ , it was cold. Eren hissed at the freezing water, but Levi continued in until he was completely immersed, while Eren was still standing there with only his toes in the water.

"You coming?" Levi asked, a small smirk on his face, illuminated by some nearby nirnroot. Eren pressed his lips together and stepped further into the water, now at mid-calf. Levi rolled his eyes, exasperated.

"Oh, for the love of-" Levi swam up to where Eren was standing, and before Eren could do anything about it, he was pulled into the water.

 _Holy shit_ , was all Eren could think as he was surrounded by cold. He flailed his arms, reaching the surface and gasping for air. He spun around, hearing Levi snickering a few feet away.

"It's freezing!" Eren exclaimed, feeling himself begin to shiver. Levi, as far as Eren could tell, wasn't shivering. How long did you have to live in Skyrim to be able to swim in freezing cold water and not shiver? A while, probably. Maybe Levi was born here, although it wasn't likely.

"Whatever," Levi was smiling, Eren noticed (had he seen Levi smile before?), "You're just weak."

"It's not being weak," Eren said, "It's cold, so cold,"

Levi just laughed, a rich, deep laugh that took Eren's breath away. Or was that just the cold water? Eren wasn't sure. All he knew was that in this lighting, illuminated by the nirnroot, with water tricking down his face and a smile gracing his lips, Levi looked beautiful.

Eren looked away quickly, instead focusing on rubbing at his skin to get the dirt and grime off. Levi was right, Eren was filthy. Who could blame him, though, after fighting a dragon on the way here and fighting off more than one wolf pack.

As soon as Eren was clean, he got out of the water and dried off, putting on his nice warm armor. Levi didn't get out for a while after Eren, scrubbing meticulously at his skin, as if trying to get every little speck of dirt and blood off.

Finally, Levi got out, and Eren all but ran to get to the warm inn. At this point, he was too tired to even care about sharing a bed with a man he had known for a day, and slipped under the covers, feeling the bed dip as Levi did the same. Levi was equally as exhausted, and they both relaxed, the sound of a bard lulling them into a deep sleep.


	3. Road to Riften pt 1

Levi woke up slowly.

This was odd, considering he was waking up, meaning he had fallen asleep. He hadn't been able to get a good night's sleep in... Well, that didn't matter.

Levi glanced over at Eren. The sleeping Bosmer had his hand thrown over his face, and was in what could quite possibly be the most uncomfortable sleeping position out there. Levi's gaze lingered a bit too long on the tan skin of his stomach, visible where his shirt was riding up. That smooth, muscular skin wasn't something anyone would be able to keep their eyes off of, if you asked Levi.

Eren was one of the weirdest people Levi had met. He didn't just up and leave as soon as Levi started being rude. On the contrary, this kid wouldn't leave him alone. If Levi wanted to, he could just get up and walk away, and never have to deal with this kid ever again.

But something made him stay. Something in the way this kid's eyes sparkled when Levi told him he would stay with him, something in his smile, or the way he always tried to hide his blushes.

Levi pushed himself up, telling himself to stop staring at the damn kid. It was getting creepy, even for him. Levi got out of the bed, realizing he had somehow taken off his armor before falling asleep. Levi had no memory of this, but that was to be expected, considering how exhausted he was. He began to put on his armor, careful not to make too much noise and wake Eren.

He left the room, stretching and walking to the innkeeper, who looked even more tired than she did last night. The inn was quiet. It must have been early morning.

"Can I get some bread and cheese?" Levi asked, getting out his money.

"Sure thing," the innkeeper yawned and reached down below her desk, pulling out a loaf of bread and a wheel of cheese.

"Thanks," Levi nodded at her and sat down in a nearby chair. A wheel of cheese would last him a while, but what about Eren? He remembered that Eren did have some food on him, but...

"Actually," Levi got up and approached the tired woman again, "I need more food. I'm traveling, you see."

"Well, we've got food," the innkeeper waved her hand dismissively, "What do you want? We've got sweetrolls, boiled creme treats, more bread rolls, you name it."

"Well..."

 **Eren POV**

Eren woke up, and immediately realized Levi wasn't there. He sat up, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes and forcing himself to calm down, fighting the panic rising in his throat. Levi probably just woke up first and got up, and didn't leave Eren behind at this inn. Eren quickly grabbed his items and left the room, not even bothering to fix his bedhead.

In the main room of the inn, Levi was waiting, to Eren's relief. His bag looked fuller than it had been before.

"Good morning, Levi," Eren grinned at him sleepily. Now that his fear had subsided, his sleepiness was apparent.

"Took you long enough to wake up," Levi said grumpily. Eren just smiled. Levi's grumpiness was beginning to grow on him, if that was even possible. Eren heard his stomach grumbling and immediately covered his stomach with his arms, a blush spreading across his face.

"Hungry?" Levi asked in an amused voice, smirking. Eren nodded shyly.

"I'll go buy some-"

"Wait," Levi stopped him, reaching into his bag, "Here."

Levi handed Eren a sweetroll out of his bag. Eren gave him a questioning look, but when Levi glared at him, he obediently sat down and ate the sweetroll. It was a bit too sweet, not as good as the ones you could get in Riften, but it was still good, if you asked Eren. Once Eren was done, he stood up and stretched.

"I guess we should get a move on, huh?" Eren asked. Levi stood up as well, motioning for Eren to follow him. They made to leave Falkreath, but as per usual, they couldn't walk past a guard without the guard making some sort of comment.

"Stay out of trouble, elf," the guard said in a warning tone. Eren rolled his eyes at the comment, smiling a little. Those guards really didn't know when to shut up.

Eren and Levi left Falkreath, following the road to Riften. It was going to be a long walk. It would have probably been less of a walk if they had hired a horse driver to take them there, but Levi swore he was out of cash, and Eren didn't have enough to pay.

Almost immediately after leaving Falkreath they were attacked by a wolf pack, which was easily killed. Eren didn't bother taking the wolf skin, seeing Levi start walking as soon as they were done.

"So you don't loot things?" Eren asked. Levi shook his head. Eren raised an eyebrow.

He should have looted the dragon when he killed it. He would have gotten around 100 septims, although Eren never did understand why the dragons had money in the first place. He had been too distracted by Levi to loot the dragon when he had the chance, so now, he didn't have as much money as he should.

The first day was relatively peaceful. Eren and Levi exchanged a few sentences here and there, but it was otherwise silent, save for the occasional animal that would run past. Levi and Eren cleared out a nearby bandit camp and slept there for the night, at Eren's insistence. The second day, however...

"Why don't you ever just _shut the fuck up_?!" Levi shouted as Eren made a comment (he couldn't quite remember what comment, something about the weather or how much his feet hurt, or-)

Eren flinched away violently, startling Levi with his reaction. However, a few seconds later the surprise and fear in Eren's features faded away into anger.

"I just want to talk!" Eren shouted back, regaining his composure quickly, "I talk and talk, trying to start a conversation - _something_ \- but you just ignore me half the time! And the other half, you just make half assed comments!"

"What do you want from me?" Levi shook his head a little. A passing farmer - a Dunmer - all but ran past where they stopped to have their argument, "You're the one who wanted to travel with me. I never asked for you to follow me around like some sort of puppy."

"I just wanted some company," Eren said, hurt in his voice, "I - I just-"

Eren made a break for it, running as far away from Levi as he could, not even bothering to look at his surroundings. He ran as fast as he could, running right into-

A spriggan.

 **Levi POV**

Levi sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He really shouldn't have snapped at the poor brat. He was just _tired_. Sleeping in a bandit camp isn't exactly the best thing for someone who already has problems sleeping. He had been tired and annoyed, and just wanted to walk in peace.

But, that didn't mean he had to shout at Eren for making conversation. And that poor farmer had seen it all. He would apologize, but the farmer would probably just tell him that he was off to Solitude to join the Imperials.

Levi looked around, trying to see where Eren had gone off to. He needed to find him (although in Levi's mind he knew he could just keep walking, not have to deal with an annoying brat and get to Riften with minimal problems) and apologize for what he said. Levi's ears perked as he heard a familiar shout.

" _Yol... toor... shul!_ "

It was the same shout Eren used when they had fought the frost dragon together. Levi moved toward the sound, recognizing Eren's voice, but unsure of where it was coming from. Was Eren fighting something?

Levi heard Eren's voice again, this time able to pinpoint the direction the voice came from.

He ran.

 **Eren POV**

 _Shit_ , this spriggan was turning the whole damned forest against him. Two bears were currently attacking him, as well as a wolf he had already killed. A swarm of bees was surrounding the spriggan as it commanded the animals, and began to heal itself.

" _Raan... mir... tah_!" Eren shouted, using the spriggan's moves against her as his animal allegiance shout went into effect.

Instead of attacking him, the bears paused for a moment, seemingly conflicted with the two commands. It gave Eren enough time to finish off one of the bears, but the other recovered and began to attack him again. Eren dodged out of the way and jumped onto the nearest rock, hopefully where a bear couldn't get to him. He downed a healing potion and whipped out his bow, aiming for the bear's eye. His arrow struck true, killing the second bear.

Now all that remained was the spriggan. The bees were flying toward him, so Eren leaped down from the rock, causing the bees to fly over his head. The spriggan swiped her wooden hand toward him, which Eren just barely managed to dodge. Eren pulled out his longsword, sheathing his bow. He pounced at the spriggan, but a sudden bout of sparks hit her back, causing Eren to leap back.

He turned his head to find Levi standing there, looking out of breath. Eren felt a giddy feeling bubble up in his chest, but forced it down. Now was not the time. Not when the bees were beginning to surround him, looking _very_ unhappy.

Again, Eren noted, Levi was using sparks, when fire would probably be more efficient. Did Levi know about these things, or did he just kill beasts off with his sheer strength?

Eren wouldn't find out, because Levi pulled out his warhammer and went right for the spriggan's head, smashing down and missing by an inch as the spriggan dodged. Levi cursed and swung his warhammer again, nearly hitting Eren in the process. Eren managed to duck his head as the warhammer smashed into the spriggan's face, sending it flying. Eren had fallen to the ground in his attempt to dodge Levi's attack. The bees dispersed, and the spriggan was dead.

Eren stood up and stared at Levi.

"You came to help me?" he asked, his voice hopeful. Levi scowled.

"I came to apologize," Levi said, looking like even saying those words was painful, "I shouldn't have lashed out at you. I was tired."

"I'm sorry too," Eren rushed to say, "I was being annoying, I get it."

There was an awkward silence between the two as Eren bend over the spriggan and pulled out the taproot, putting it in his bag to ease the awkwardness.

"You'll still travel with me, right?" Eren asked, "You don't want to travel alone now?"

"Eren," Levi sighed, "I get annoyed easily, but..." Levi seemed to be contemplating whether or not he should say what he was about to say. Eren fidgeted where he stood, considering taking the bear pelts for some extra money.

"Well, not everyone can deal with someone like me," Levi continued, "And... I'd like to stick with whatever sucker actually thinks he can." Eren grinned happily, allowing the giddiness to wash over him.

He happily followed Levi back to the road, and together, they continued on their way to Riften.


	4. Road to Riften pt 2

They were so close to Riften. So close Eren could taste it.

They had been walking a day since the spriggan incident and Levi hadn't let Eren stop to sleep. He had allowed Eren to pause and rest his feet every few hours, however reluctantly. It seemed like after the spriggan thing Levi just wanted to book it to Riften. Eren could understand how he felt.

He was tired and sore, but he had a bed waiting for him in Riften, in a place where (hopefully) no one wanted to kill him. No wolves would attack him, no bears (which were surprisingly populous in this forested area), no dragons. _Fuck_ , Eren hated dragons.

Speak of the devil.

Eren heard the roaring and rumble of a nearby dragon, circling in the sky. He groaned in frustration, and before he knew what he was doing, he had grabbed Levi's hand and crouched behind a rather large rock to hide from it. He _hated_ dragons.

The only problem? How close their bodies were, his chest flush with Levi's as he pressed close to the rock, their breath mingling. His arms caged Levi against the rock, which Eren knew couldn't be comfortable. Levi's armor was poking into Eren's stomach, but it still somehow felt intimate. Eren was currently sitting with both of his legs in between Levi's. Levi opened his mouth, but Eren shook his head violently.

The dragon roared once again, closer this time. Eren felt the ground rumbling as the dragon landed, and sounds of attack. He peeked around the edge of the rock to find a dragon fighting a giant. Gods, if there was anything Eren hated more than dragons, it was giants. Eren had more than a few bad memories associated with them. Hopefully the giant and dragon would kill each other and Levi and Eren could continue on their merry way.

Eren could feel Levi squirming in his arms, which made him pause for a moment. Eren had at least a little self control, especially when there was definitely nothing sexy about the situation. Levi's armor was hard against his stomach, he was in an uncomfortable position, and Levi kept _squirming_. So why did he feel flustered all of a sudden?

How long would it take for either the dragon or the giant to kill the other?

"There's a dragon fighting a giant," Eren whispered, his voice barely audible, "Hopefully they'll kill each other."

"I'm uncomfortable as fuck," Levi hissed, "Plus, I've got the heavy armor, shouldn't I be on the outside?"

Eren ignored the comment and kept watching the fight. It went on, the giant swinging his club at the dragon and the dragon snapping at the giant, occasionally taking off and flying around a bit. Eren always pressed closer at those times, which resulted in more squirming from Levi. However, Eren knew Levi had the full capability to shove Eren off him, and he didn't.

Finally, after several excruciating minutes, the giant killed the dragon. Eren wasn't close enough to absorb the dragon soul, but there was no threat of the giant attempting to kill them, as it was beginning to walk away and giant only attacked if you got too close. Eren relaxed and fell back onto the ground, releasing Levi.

"Well that was fucking awful," Levi said scornfully as he stood up and glanced at the dead dragon, the giant not even pausing in it's journey away.

"Sorry," Eren said, standing up, "I'm too exhausted to fight a dragon. Let's just go."

As they were walking, apparently Eren got close enough to the dragon corpse to absorb it's soul anyway. The giant was too far away at that point, and didn't notice them. Even if it did, it wouldn't have attacked.

Finally, after fighting a few more bears and wolf packs (seriously, why were there so many bears?) they made it to Riften. The giant wooden gate was a welcome sight. Even the guard, with their typical "What is it, elf?" couldn't dampen Eren's spirits. They entered the city together.

As usual, it was bustling with people. It was a nice day, and nice days in Riften were beautiful. Levi and Eren walked together into the marketplace. where the stall owners were yelling about selling armor or jewelry. Homeless people sat outside the market, begging for coins. Riften was said to be the worst city in Skyrim, what with the Thieves' Guild running around. In Eren's opinion, it was actually quite nice.

"Guess we have to part ways, for now," Eren said awkwardly, trying to hint at the fact that he wanted to see Levi again after this. Levi seemed to catch the hint.

"Yep," was all he said before he walked off. Eren's shoulders slumped in disappointment. Eren expected something... more, from Levi. They had been traveling together for a while, he just thought Levi might care a bit more at this point.

"Hey," Levi called as Eren made to sulk off, "See you."

Eren grinned, feeling happiness bubble up inside him, and watched Levi disappear into the Bee and Barb. Levi had said "see you". Meaning, they would see each other again. Meaning Levi _wanted_ to see him again. Eren was smiling as he walked to the Thieves' Guild secret entrance, grinning the whole way. One guard stared at him a bit too long, but Eren didn't mind much. That one woman who was always praying to her god didn't pay Eren any mind.

He walked through the Riften graveyard and pressed the button on a tomb, opening the entrance to the Thieves' Guild. He walked in and climbed down the ladder into the Ratway. Immediately, he was confronted with the faces of his two friends, Mikasa and Armin.

They were Bosmer like himself. They were childhood friends of Eren's, who had decided to travel with Eren when he left. The three had been through a lot together. They were able to sneak across the border into Skyrim safely, while Eren had been caught in an Imperial ambush and almost executed. He was still kind of angry about that, one of the reasons he wouldn't choose a side in the civil war. (The other was, of course, that the Stormcloaks were elf-haters. Well, non-Nord haters.)

"Eren, are you OK?" Mikasa asked immediately, inspecting him for wounds. Apparently satisfied with his lack thereof, she relaxed and smiled, pulling Eren into a hug.

"Welcome back!" Armin grinned. He had an odd hair color, for a Bosmer. There weren't many wood elves with blonde hair.

"Hey, guys," Eren grinned happily, feeling immense relief at being back with Armin and Mikasa, "It's good to be back."

Rather than head right for Jean to get his money, he instead stumbled towards his bed, one among various beds set around the room. He fell into the bed face-first, and immediately drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Eren woke to Mikasa peering into his face.

He let out a startled yelp and tried to shuffle back, ultimately falling off the bed. He got up slowly, wincing at his aching back. He had slept well, now that Levi wasn't there to nag him about wasting time.

"What are you doing, Mikasa?" Eren asked grumpily. He yawned.

"Jean heard you were back and wants to see you." she said, a hint of malice in her voice. She had settled on Eren's bed, gazing at him and pursing her lips, "He should let you sleep."

"It's fine, Mikasa," Eren waved a hand dismissively, not wanting Mikasa to get too worked up. He glanced around the room, finding Armin standing by some practice dummies, preparing his bow for some training. Now that Eren knew where his friends were, he headed to the outer part of the Ratway, the place the Thieves' Guild called home.

In the Ratway, he found Jean sitting at a nearby table, littered in notes, either warnings or requests. He also had a bottle of ale beside him. It was a little early to be drinking, if you asked Eren.

"You finish the job?" Jean asked unceremoniously, munching on a piece of bread. He raised an eyebrow expectantly.

"Yes, I finished the job," Eren rolled his eyes and brought out everything he had stolen. Jean grinned as he checked it all over.

"Alright, it's yours to keep," Jean said happily, settling deeper into his chair, "Oh, right. You know how we've been missing a fence? Well, we got a new one. He'll buy your stolen goods. Might as well go sell them."

Jean waved a hand at Eren, motioning for him to leave. Eren sighed and searched the room, trying to find the new fence. He really did need to sell this stuff before he was arrested and they were taken from him.

"Looking for the new fence?" Marco asked. He was the bartender in the Ratway. He really was too nice of a guy to be down there, but Eren knew why he stayed around, if the way he kept looking at Jean was any indication. What the man saw in a Nord Eren would never know.

"Yep," Eren answered, eyes still scanning the room. The room looked like a run down tavern. It had tables and chairs, and a bar for drinks. Behind those was a small little indoor pond, with another eating area near there.

"He's over there," Marco pointed to a table that was behind a wall. No wonder Eren couldn't see him.

"Thanks!" Eren smiled, "Oh, and, how's it going with Jean? I've been meaning to ask."

Marco's freckled face immediately turned beet red, and he brought a hand to his face, as if to cool it off. He glanced over at said Nord, who was busy downing an entire bottle of ale.

"He doesn't even notice me," Marco said quietly, "He just sees me as an alcohol provider."

"Keep trying!" Eren said sympathetically, before turning around to find that fence.

Eren strolled over to the table where the fence was sitting, already taking his stolen goods out of his bag. He didn't look up as he began talking.

"Hey, I heard you're the new fence? I've got some-" Eren finally looked up and recoiled, eyes widening in shock at the man sitting before him.

"What the fuck - Levi?!"

A/N: ┏(;-_-)┛ anyone interested in helping me write some smut later on?


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